


sweetheart you're so insecure...

by Blepbean



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Inspired by a tumblr post where mako is the pining one and wu is the oblivious one, M/M, Not edited and proofread at all we die like men, Oblivious!Wu, Pining!Mako, Slow Burn, aaaaaaaa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26420401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blepbean/pseuds/Blepbean
Summary: It all started when Mako came down with a sickness, and that night, he realised he loved Wu. So he shoved it all under a lock and placed it six feet under the ground, where it'll fester and rot. He'll leave as soon as he can and get away from Wu.They cannot work. Mako will burn themselves and ruin the shaky foundations. So he thought that he should keep his distance, only take as much as he can by glances from across the room that only lasted a split of a second, or when Wu would ramble could hair gel and all Mako could do was feel his red creep up on his cheeks while he stared.inspired bythis tumblr fic ideaandthis song
Relationships: Mako/Prince Wu (Avatar)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 240
Collections: wuko fics for the soul <3





	1. give away yourself sometimes sweetheart

**Author's Note:**

> am i procastinating on my other projects? yes. i litearlly wrote so quickly yall have no idea, i think i didnt quiet hit the mark with the idea fic but... i like it so 
> 
> WUKO NATION COME GET YALL JUICE
> 
> kudos, comments and feedback is appreciated
> 
> Edit: JDJSJSJSN I MESSED UP THE NAMES AT THE END THERES NO VARRICK/MAKO HERE IM SORRY

Mako thinks it all started when he first met Wu. The seeds took place when he was first body guarding Wu, during those quiet moments. But after a few years, it clicked all together when he ate fire flakes and covered himself in blankets because the cold got to him.

“You’re shivering all over!”

“I’m fine!”

“Okay listen,” Wu set down his tea, he stood in front of Mako. He looked so silly then, green tea face mask with a robe on, his hair still wet from the shower, “you are not fine.”

“Don’t give the fucking frog—“

“Buddy. Chump pal. Homeboy I’m  _ not  _ gonna give you the frog to suck on it’s fine,” he circled back to the dresser of his bedroom, rummaged through his things, “I think I might have some pills—“

“I already took some.”

“But not this one!” He exclaimed, going back to Mako and that  _ smile _ , that damn smile is like the brightest thing in the universe, full of joy. Mako thought back then that if he got too close to that smile, he thought that he would be lit alive from how bright it is. They are two polar opposite from two different backgrounds. A Prince born in riches and a cop born in rags, sacrificing  _ whatever  _ he had to do to keep his brother’s emotions in check and stable, doing whatever he had to do to keep him alive. 

And when their hands touched, Mako thought  _ oh.  _

_ Oh  _

If Wu were to do that again he though that he would melt into a pool of puddle from how happy he is. Wu is an enchanting vast plain of trees and forest, easy to get lost into and traverse for houses. Mako is a spark, a flame, a candle, a an arc of lightning that if he ever got too close to Wu for too long, if he ever touched him like that again, with Wu’s hands on his forehead to check his temperature, they would  _ burn _ . It’ll be like a forest fire that they can’t control, it hungers and hungers and takes what it can because the fire is greedy. Until there is nothing left but bone and ash.

“Mako?”

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” 

Wu took his hands off his forehead. When he looked at Mako, he was burying himself in his scarf.

They cannot work. Mako will burn themselves and ruin the shaky foundations. So he thought that he should keep his distance, only take as much as he can by glances from across the room that only lasted a split of a second, or when Wu would ramble could hair gel and all Mako could do was feel his red creep up on his cheeks while he stared. 

And bury it all six feet under along with this strange, buzzing feeling that is all new to him. Pile it full of stones, piles of dirt and never get it again.

Plus he has to keep it professional.

  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Dear Bolin _

_ I really don’t know how the fuck I do this and honestly I’m not good at this whole thing but there’s this feeling that I get in my chest and it’s all warm and fuzzy when Wu looks at me and it’s really fucking with me and my work and I HAVE TO KEEP IS PROFESSIONAL and I honestly want it gone and this is the first time I’m feeling it for a guy and it’s so strange and yeah. _

_ I think I’m bi???? I don’t know how this whole thing works? There’s no earth kingdom book on sexuality that says on page 322 with a title called ‘Mako’s bisexual tendencies’ _

_ From Mako. _

He never really mailed that letter. It rotted away in his dresser, bled with guilt and ink, all scrunched up.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


After this is all over he can leave. When Wu gets crowned he can leave and his feelings that he buried along with all those memories will all merge with the dirt, and it’ll all be nothing but a distant but painful memory. He can’t wait for it. 

But he can have himself more of these little pieces, little pieces of Wu until he’s suddenly gone from his life. Like right now, how the lights from the stage casted Wu’s deep brown skin—like he’s been carved from the very earth itself—with a soft moonlight hue. It looked like he flowed from the very moon herself, like she bent down to the ground, took her hands and held his face so gently.

His amber eyes held and contained a raging inferno. His emerald eyes held vast forest. They will light and burn themselves on fire, Mako reminded himself. 

“This is so good Mako,” Wu whispered, “oh man this is so beautiful.”

“Yeah it is,” he said, while he stared at Wu. He didn’t pay attention when Fire Lord Zuko said ‘that’s rough buddy’ to Sokka. And when Wu laughed so loudly, he thought that he forgot how to breathe for a second.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ The thought of you is killing me _

He burned the page after he wrote it down.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Ladies! What’s up!”

Mako put his hands behind his back when they stopped, looked around for any dangers in the area. His thumb dug into the flesh of his palm. It is painful, when he watched Wu do his  _ stupid  _ flirting and his  _ stupid  _ jokes. The inferno brims underneath his skin when the two ladies giggled, hid their faces behind their hands.

And Wu looked so proud of himself, he grinned when he put his hands into his pockets. But the two ladies in elegant dresses and makeup that they just  _ had  _ to come across while on their morning walk looked at Mako, dropped their hands, looked at Wu and back to him.

“Is something wrong ladies?”

“Nothing at all!” They said in unison, and in their wrist, hidden by the sleeves of their dress, he saw a flash of spark, a flash of colour in the monotone kingdom. They’re both wearing pride bracelets, carefully woven and dyed with such love they must’ve made it with each other. He read the history of the Earth Kingston, catcher up on the societal norms during his spare time. The kingdom is the slowest to progress, unmoving time its traditional bigoted views.

He wondered how long they must’ve been together. How they must’ve came home after they pretended, wrapped each other in their arms, behind closed doors, behind walls. 

He watched drown walk away into the distance. Wu didn’t seem to notice. 

“They’re so pretty,” Wu swooned.

“Yeah,” he said. Mako looked at him with warmth in his cheeks.

“Come on Mako, I’m starving. You booked a reservation right?”

  
“Don’t think a king needs a reservation.”

Wu placed his hands around Mako’s neck. He dragged him throughout the rest of the walk.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Dear Mako _

_ Hey bud! Sorry I couldn’t write much, you know how Kuvira is. Anyways this is gonna be a bit of a quick letter because I can’t write for very wrong but I’ve been doing so well recently working with the team. But I’m worried about Opal and how we’re gonna make this whole distance thing work. We’ve been sending letters to each other but she hates that I’m working with Kuvir and like??? I don’t know, but how are you! You haven’t sent a letter in a while and you must be doing really cool stuff! _

_ P.S Send a letter back as soon as possible _

_ From, Bolin _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Buddy? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine? What do you mean haha I’m fine.”

“Okay…”

“I’m gonna go to the… toilet. Yeah to the toilet!”

“Okay…”

When he got to the bathroom (all golden and sparkly) and stared at himself in the mirror, he realised how much of a mess he is. His face is warming up, it reminded him of warmth, of fires that he started for him and Bolin. 

“Spirits,” he mumbled, and he didn’t realise he was breathing a puff of fire that curled and twisted until it disappeared into smoke, “fuck, fuck, fuck!”

_ He will burn him into flames if he gets too close _ .  _ He will light him on fire. He will destroy him-- _

“Hey…” Wuko appeared on the door, a soft smile on his face. Mako’s hands on the sink tightened, like he will burst himself into a pillar of flames if he isn’t too careful. There’s a stretch of silence between them, so deafening that Mako can hear his own teeth that gritted because he doesn’t want to cry. He doesn’t want to let the tears burn hot against his cheeks, if he does, it’ll become a stream of emotion that he can’t control.

It’ll roll on forever and ever. It’ll crush through the flimsy barrier he has created that he thought was the very bottom and continue, until it reached the true bottom. It’ll sit there. It’ll rot. It’ll fester, with flies that flied around it like a carcass left out in the humid air.

“You okay?”

“Just stressed, sorry.”

  
He felt the touch of Wuko’s hands on his shoulder. There it is. That spark. That electricity. Forest that mixed with a spark of fire. They will burn. Mako put his head down and bit down harder.

“Buddy come here.”

Wu turned him around and he let Mako into the crook of his shoulder. He didn’t smell of flamboyant flowers from overpriced perfume that made Mako cough, he smelled something else. Like something soft, reminded him of fresh grass with an undercurrent of sweet vanilla. It sorta smelled like the candles his mum lit during dinner.

_ “To make the house smell better, Mako.” She said _ .

Mako tensed for a moment. But he let himself melt into him, they fit so well together. Like two puzzles that slotted together. He doesn’t cry. He kept his teeth grit and his body tense, but maybe this warm touch that reminded him of home slowly unravelled the mountains and mountains boundaries and barriers, inside was his feelings. 

He felt every dirt. Every inch of metal and whatever barrier he put up crumbled. Maybe it’s just the outer walls. But it’s just the start. Just one step. One step was enough.

“You’re so tense Mako, spirits,” Wu mumbled, and he’s glad for that flicker of humour to cut through the tension of feelings. Mako laughed, and it’s genuine too.

“Sorry.”

Mako pulled away. A part of him didn’t want to.

“Mako,” Wu put his hands on Mako’s cheeks and he thought he was gonna  _ die _ , “look at me.”

“I-I’m looking at you.”

“No you’re looking at the wall behind me.”

He forced himself to look into those emerald eyes. Fire and a forest. They won’t mix. He reminded himself. Mako sighed, relieved that he wasn’t crying.

  
“You can tell me anything, you know that,” Wu continued, “we’re friends, remember? Well you’re kinda my first friend but you can tell me anything, you know that.”

His mouth felt dry. Mako can’t do that. It’ll burn down what little they had, it’ll turn the leaves into ash and the lakes into a pool of smoke. They are so close to each other, but at the same time so far away. They are the opposites, and the distance stretched on and on. It turned into a city. It turned into a sea.

It then turned into a planet. And all Mako can do is stare and stare and stare. 

“I’m your bodyguard Wu,” he whispered, because if his voice was any louder he thought that he might break. He went back to the times when Wu was announced as king, and he watched him, next to his side. So full of joy and Wu blinked away the tears, because he’s no longer a lonely prince locked away in his bedroom, isolated and locked away with the demons that lingered from the shadows of other people.

He’s a king. He’s out in the real world. Wu can make a difference. Wu can change the world. Mako can’t ruin it for him if he stepped over the line, he’s taking advantage of him. Just a bird that flew out of it’s nest and saw the colours bleed into saturated ones. Mako can’t have him. 

_ They will burst into flames _

Wu placed his hands on Mako’s shoulders, “just because you’re my bodyguard doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. Look, we’re bonding already.”

  
“Sure.”

Wu laughed and it filled the silence. They turned into a planet. Then into a sea. Then into a city. No more distance between them. They’re back in the bathroom. 

Wu sighed, “it’s like… you’re so  _ insecure  _ sometimes, talking back your words and other stuff. So I just want you--” he jabbed his finger into Mako’s chest playfully, “--to not be so hard on yourself. Okay?”

_ Oh _ .

It struck him so suddenly. Even though he knew some parts of what Wu said, it opened his eyes. The outer walls crumbled. Fire in his very core, the one that wasn’t a raging inferno like the one he held in his amber eyes, is something that’s warm and soft, a hearth, it casted soft red hues on the walls. It’s going to come out. It’ll bless the ugly demons inside and the bottled feelings some day.

“Okay.”

Wu looped his arm around Mako’s neck, “now let’s go get a smoothie, I’m starving.”

“But they just said to--”

“Shhh, Mako.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


_ You’re so insecure, taking back your words. _

_ Oh lover, loveless. _

  
  
  
  
  


“WU!”

“Shut up I’m trying to pluck your eyebrows.”

“OW!”

“It won’t hurt you if you stay still.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Dear Mako _

_ Really busy with the company at the moment so I really didn’t have a lot of time to write so please forgive me. It’s really exhausting to build a company from the ground up and to run a bunch of things in the background, but it’s really exciting! Sales are finally going back up and I’m sorta stable with a lot of things right now it’s strange. I heard that Bolin was working with Kuvira, but I’m sorta worried with her plans. Korra is out doing Avatar stuff and Tenzin is doing Air-stuff and It’s so weird that I never really took a break and to look back on the progress. _

_ I don’t know, maybe I’m ranting. How are you? I heard your bodyguarding for Wu. So exciting! I can’t wait to see you! _

_ From, Asami _

  
  
  
  
  


“--Only more human, like extra human or hm… super human.”

Asami looked at Wu like he spoke another language.

“Super human?”

“So what do you say? Can I show you a little key night out with a superhuman soon to be king?” He wiggled his eyebrows at Asami and Mako doesn’t know whether to jealous or weirded out.

Mako sighed before he walked towards them. There’s a spark of relief in Asami’s face that she covers within a second, it’s a hidden talent of hers that Mako found out when they were dating a while ago. 

He put on his professional voice before he spoke, “Prince Wu, President Raiko has some really important king stuff to talk to you about.”

“Now?” He whined, he turned to Asami, “Fine, think over the offer,” Wu said as he blew a kiss out to Asami. She didn’t seem to be phased about it, “I’ll be back.”

She rolled her eyes. And Mako suddenly realised that it’s been a while since he and Asami talked. Recollections of the past rolled in and he wanted to be back there, pro-bending, just met Korra and hadn't met a certain prince with brown skin and emerald eyes that he  _ always  _ found himself sinking into, delving deeper into the forest as much as he can before he has to pull away from the fear it’ll all burn down.

“He’s a real charmer,” Mako said.

“He’s something… how can you stand being his bodyguard?”

He can’t. Wu is something that has rooted into Mako’s thoughts and everyday life and he isn’t gonna go away soon, until he’s king. Then Mako can pack his bags and leave, go back to his apartment and forever waste his life away as a cop with piles and piles of paperwork. It left a bitter feeling in his stomach, it sunk at the very bottom of the well.

_ “It’s like… you’re so insecure sometimes.” _

“I just have to remind myself that once he’s on the throne…” he paused, he let the lie sink into his tongue before he can continue, “I can go back to being a detective.”

“And that works?   
  


_ Vast green forest and the warmth from the hearth of the fireplace. If he can close his eyes, he can let his thoughts roll and pretend that it is real. That he can wake up next to him, maybe in the middle of the night when the nightmares get too much, and he knows that Wu will be there next to him. If he’s careful, Mako can trace the dip of his waist where the moon has placed her hand there, see his chest that raised and fell from every breath that he drew. He can have that tiny reality, were they lived in a secluded house in the middle of the forest and spent days in the bed or out in the backyard. _

“Yeah… And I uh… uh… also smash my head into the wall for an hour.”

  
Asami raised her eyebrows. Like she did when they were dating, when she knows that there’s that lingered in his thoughts like a plague. But she sighed, shook her head and crossed her arms.

“If you say so Mako.”   
  


  
  
  
  
  
  


_ The distance between us is a size of a planet _


	2. because there's so much of you

“Wu personally asked Raiko. He said he doesn’t know what he’ll do without you.”

He bit his lip and put up an act. But his chest bloomed with a sort of warmth, like the warmth from a fireplace. 

He looked at Wu at the other side of the room. Wu laughed at something that Raiko said and there it is again, the warmth inside his chest.

“You okay there Mako?”  
  


“Fine. Totally fine.”

Lin giggled. He hid his face behind his hand.

  
  
  
  
  
  


_Dear Asami_

_I’m sorry if my past letters were really boring and I didn’t know whether to send this to you or Korra but I’m just so confused lately and I’ve been such a mess. It’s different than before, like how I met and Korra and other stuff. This time is different, not like a crush but something more. Please help me I don’t know how emotions work._

_P.S This is probably the worse thing I’ve ever wrote I’m sorry for making you read this._

_From, Mako._

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Mako… I’m hungry!”

“Get it yourself Moron.”  
  


Wu whined, then after a second he pulled Mako out of the couch, “we’re getting food.”

And all that from a touch, Mako forgot how to breathe for a second. Like the air from the wilderness took away his breath, his oxygen, his lungs just for a second all from a single breath. It’s both terrifying and electrifying. It is addictive like a cigarette. Mako promised himself to keep distance from him.

But just like Wu said that he doesn’t need a helping of apple pie, he goes back and gets more and more and more. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but the words died before he could get it out. It tasted bitter on his tongue.

“Mako!”

“Okay, Okay I’m coming.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_He found a book in Wu’s bed, hidden, tucked away under his bed for no one to see but him. It’s a full on diary. A part of him wanted to put it away and never see it again, leave it in the dark and never think about it again. But a part of him wanted to uncover the thoughts, see the secrets and whatever it is that lingered in Wu’s mind in the middle of the night._

_Under the silver moon she gave her light and the book seemed like it glowed. It felt heavy in his hands, bled with the fantasies that haunted his thoughts when Wu laughed or smiled or put his hand on his shoulder because that’s what friends do._

_He’s getting too close to the forest. Mako will burn it all to the ground and turn it into ash. Fire and forest won’t mix._

_So he put it back where it came from._

  
  


“So what have you been up to? Fighting crime? Busting triads? Chasing the ladies, Mako style?” Bolin nudged Mako. He glanced towards Wu on the other end of the hotel lobby, he combed through his hair with his fingers. 

“Well I’ve been working for Wu… and uh… yeah.”

He sighed, he felt pathetic. Everyone was going on with their lives and worked towards something. Bolin with Kuvira. Korra with avatar stuff and Asami with her company. All Mako is stuck with is babysitting a literal oblivious baby in the form of a prince that he somehow found himself that he loved. He’s stuck behind, watching everyone fade into fog while he stood there, stuck.

Mako wanted to punch himself right there and then. When he sees a chance to no longer be a bodyguard he can leave and let his feelings for Wu rot away in the dirt. 

  
  
  
  
  


_Dear Mako_

_He’s oblivious. Just have patience <3 _

_From, Asami._

  
  
  
  
  


There’s something private about seeing Wu so vulnerable, as he wore fake crown artifacts in a fake throne in a fake palace. He looked like a kid, confused and terrified, with all the gold and fame that surrounded him while he sat there, ruled a kingdom that was ruined. He can imagine Wu when he was announced that he was gonna be king, his eyes wide open.

“I’m sorry, that was out of line.”

But in reality it was daunting and terrifying. Having the power in his palms, scared that it’ll blow open like a ticking time bomb. Mako kneeled beside him, and watched his eyes reflect back the isolation, all alone, surrounded by adults and no one like him.

It’s weird to think that him and Wu drank smoothies in Little Ba Sing Se.

“No, you’re right,” Wu said, “no one has ever talked to me like that before. I guess I’m just a joke who got what he deserved.”

When Wu looked up at Mako, everything seemed to stop. Fire and forest. Amber and Emerald.

_Maybe they could be something_.

“Carry me?”

“No.”  
  
Mako really wanted to carry him though.”

  
  
  
  
  


_He found the burned ashes of the paper, it’s a phantom reminder of what he wrote_

_The thought of you is killing me_

  
  
  
  


Everything was going fine during the reunion with Korra and Asami. They reminscened and talked and laughed about the good old times, which were drenched with a bittersweet lull. Back when they were just teenagers who didn’t know any better, when Korra and Mako played pro-bending and Mako just met Asami for the first time. They apologised. They made up. It’s fine now.

But there’s a silence in the air, a soothing and comfortable one that friends share. Wu put his finger up while he sipped on his water.

“Wait hang on there was a love triangle?”  
  
“Yes Wu there was a love triangle…” Mako sighed.

“I wished I was in the love triangle, it’ll be like a love square,” Wu joked. 

Mako wanted to die right there and then. His ears turned pink and he covered it up by holding his drink to hide his face. And in that moment alone, he can imagine himself in stupid date with Wu, maybe just a dinner just like ‘friends’ because Wu was bored. In shiny and expensive suits while Wu spoke, and Mako would sit there while he stared.

Amber mixing with emerald. Maybe those gems would look nice as a gem combo.

Asami laughed. Mako wanted to bury himself.

‘What’s so funny?” Wu asked. Korra suddenly realised what was happening and giggled.

“You’ll figure it out,” Asami said. She stared at Mako.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_The distance between us_

_The size of a planet_

  
  
  
  
  


Inferno brimmed underneath his skin and if he didn't find Wu, he will tear the whole city down no matter how much it took. When his knuckles went white when Mako pushed him against the truck, his eyes flickered with fury, anger. If he could-- _and he should’ve--_ he would’ve kicked him and threw him into the pit of fire.

But he didn’t. 

The guy didn’t know where Wu was. And all he could think about was Wu, terrified, scared. He fingers dug into his palms when they drove to the train station, his lips were wet with blood.

“We’ll find him Mako,” Korra said. It helped. A little bit. But all he could think about how much of an idiot he is, how stupid he was because he _left_ him.

“I hope so.”

  
  
  


_It could have been nothing--_

_Slow motion discussion_

_I wake up to nothing_

  
  
  
  
  


“--Am I dead?”

Wu isn’t dead. His hair is a little ruffled and his eyes looked like it belonged to a puppy. It was adorable. He’s here. He’s alive. Mako has Wu in front of him when a few minutes ago he thought that 

“No,” he said, “we’re on a train, we’re gonna you out of here.”

He knows that at some point, Wu will kill him slowly. It’s like a poison berry from the forests itself, and at one point he's going to suffocate. He is air to him like water is to plants. When Mako leaves, he’s going to lose a piece of himself, it’ll burn into flames from all the times he buried his feelings six feet under.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_He wrote it again_

_The thought of you is killing me_

_And he didn’t burn it this time._

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Wu put his hands on Mako’s shoulder and it took _everything_ in him to not burn everything around him. He’s always touchy like that, and it’s getting out of hand. 

“Thank you… for telling me,” Wu said. He put his helmet down as he sat on the ground. It’s just the two of them in the silence, it stirred between them. There’s this heavy fog between them, Mako doesn’t know what to say after he spilled all his guts out after what happened in the last few years.

“You asked so I uh…” he paused, and looked up at Wu, “I delivered… I guess.”

“I knew about the love triangle but… wow Mako I can’t believe you were a pro-bender!” He reached out to touch Mako on the elbow, and that spark was back. Mako didn’t look, too terrified and too scared to see Wu like this, flushed and his ears pink.

“It’s a long time ago,” Mako said, “it was… cool.”

“Cool?” He shuffled himself closer to Mako, he hasn’t let go yet, “I didn’t know much about you before so… thank you,” Mako thinks he’s dead, right there and then when he looked up at him. Eyes met. Fire and Forest. Emerald and Amber. But they didn’t burn up into flames and left nothing but ash.

It was more like a campfire in the middle of the deep words. Soft warmth that spread throughout the thick forest. They are so close to each other, and the distance doesn’t move, Mako doesn’t want to leave. He thinks that he might find himself stuck in that wilderness, in those eyes, traversing the thick woods with a soft flame in his hands.

And Wu looked like he had a lightbulb moment. 

_He’s oblivious. Just have patience._

Wu smiled, “You should be like that more often,” he let go of Mako’s elbow, “so don’t be scared to give away yourself sometimes, there’s so much of _you_ that you’re holding onto.”

He felt the walls crumble and dust clouded the floor. All of it all is slowly being unravelled. But if it’s with Wu, then it’ll be fine. 

“Thank you,” and he meant it. 

Their eyes lingered on each other for just a second. Mako wondered what was in those eyes of his, he wanted to learn more of Wu, there has to be more than Prince Wu. He got glimpses in tiny moments, he wondered what he hid in his forest. He is a home that he just found, and he’s just learning the layout, the rooms, the place where he can rest. He can figure out where the key fits, or where the bedroom is, where they’ll spent morning hours in each other's arms, wasting away the day.

Maybe they can have something.

  
  
  
  
  
  


_Sweetheart you’re insecure_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The fight is over. The city is safe. Everyone is safe. Republic city can rebuild. He groaned, felt the phantom pain on his burned arm that would’ve been gone if Korra and Katara didn’t intervene. The hospital is a lonely place, too clean and too clinical with the lights that washed out everything that it touched.

Korra and Asami came by an hour ago to check on him. Their conversation was the only thing that kept him sane, and now the joy from that is gone, boredom took over. There’s nothing to do. 

The door opens, and Wu is there.

“Hey…”

“Hi Wu.”

Silence.

He pulled a chair and sat down next to him. Wu put his hands on top of Mako’s, which rested on his chest. The human touch gave warmth, which bloomed everywhere in his chest and into his ears, and into his very core.

“How’s your arm?”

“They’re not really telling me anything but--” he sat up to talk to Wu properly, he groaned in the process, “--I think it’ll be fine.”

“I think so too,” he gripped Mako’s hand tighter. He smelled of something soft and sweet, just like something that’s comforting. It’s not the strong smells of sakura flowers from the perfume he used, or the smell of vanilla and grass. It’s something else, like a campfire, warm, it wrapped it’s hands around Mako.

“I missed you so _much_ ,” Mako mumbled.

“I missed you too, we couldn’t talk during the attack.”

Silence. He liked the silences. He wants to have more of these with Wu, perhaps in the living room, where they are just content existing next to each other, or maybe in the morning light, wrapped up in blankets. He could have that, if they just learn each other’s boundaries, lives, and their behaviour.

“Are you gonna come to Varrick’s wedding?” Wu said, “I want you to come.”

Mako glided his thumb across the back of Wu’s hand, it’s soft, “I think I can come.”

“You know I just thought you were gonna be… bed ridden for the rest of the year and all _bud_.”

“Please don’t call me bud.”

“I’ll _whisper_ it in your ear.”

Mako blushed. Wu laughed.

The door swung open and Bolin appeared on the doorway, “hey guys--oh my god I fucking knew it, Opal! Opal you owe me twenty!”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_“So don’t be scared to give away yourself sometimes, there’s so much of you that you’re holding onto.”_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Wu, hi.”

“Hey.”  
  


Behind him the lights glowed a beautiful blue light, there’s a callous murmur of conversations that filled the air from the wedding. Wu walked up to him, and there’s an easy going silence that laps around them.

“How are you? I hope coming out here isn’t taking a toll on you.”

“You don’t need to worry about me Wu, I’ll be fine.”

  
“The last time you said that you got a cold.”

Silence.

Then laughter. It’s easy going between them, and when Mako looked at Wu the light behind them. He thought that they were stars that came from the very abyss of space and were brought back down just for the wedding. Skies was painted with a soft purple hue, like the lilacs that grew in his mother’s garden.

“I’ll let you know if I get a cold next time Wu,” he nudged him on the shoulder playfully. Wu laughed, and he thought it was the most precious and sweetest thing that has ever existed, that he has to protect it.

Wu grinned, and he touched the back of Mako’s hand. It is a spark that spreads through him, fast. It is something that is entirely new to him, and he’s trying to chart out the unexplored areas of Wu. It starts with Mako’s hands gliding up to touch Wu’s neck, it stayed there for a moment, lingered there to let the moment soak.

Wu’s hand rested on his wrist. Like an anchor, kept them still and it grounded them.

“How long have you liked me?” Wu said. 

Mako realised that _this_ was something. He felt Wu’s hand trail up to his arm, and it settled on his neck.

“I think… it was when I got the cold.”

“ _Oh_ , that long.”

“Yeah.”

Another laugh.

And it felt like it was just the two of them. 

“I was really oblivious wasn’t I?” Wu’s other hand settled on his other neck, “you should’ve told me sooner.”  
  


He grinned, “maybe this can make up for it,” he said, and he leaned in for a kiss.

When he closed his eyes, he forgot how to breathe for a moment. Until he felt the spark that ran through, warmth spreading throughout his cheek. His lips are something that he hasn’t found in the rooms yet, and he’s still charting it. It’s soft and he can taste a bit of red wine on his tongue.

So he leaned in, testing the waters to get more of this warmth. Follow the leaf in and into the vast forest, or perhaps he can imagine themselves somewhere else. Here, maybe they might be kissing on the bed in the middle of the night, grabbing greedy handfuls of each other. Or maybe in the back of the alleyways of Republic City, laughing as they chased the feeling and kissed each other in giggles.

Mako thought that if he chased this feeling with Wu, they would light themselves on fire. Fire and forest. Emerald and amber. But it’s something else, it’s a soft warmth in the vast forest that coats it like a mother's hug. There’s uncharted areas of each other, within the fire, within the forest. And they’ll work it out, they’ll test the waters, they’ll see what works and what doesn’t. Mako will give himself just a little bit more to the outside, he will.

And it’ll be all okay.

**Author's Note:**

> [follow my tumblr](https://blepbean.tumblr.com/)


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